The last fight on Ben Askren ‘s Bellator MMA deal is in the books, and the promotion’s welterweight champion delivered yet again with perhaps his most dominant performance to date. Now CEO Bjorn Rebney finds himself in a position he’s been in before – hoping to keep one of his champions rather than lose him to the competition. Rebney on Wednesday confirmed to MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio) that Askren’s win over Andrey Koreshkov at this past week’s Bellator 97 card was the last fight on his current deal. Rebney also said he’s unsure of what steps the promotion will take in negotiations with Askren (12-0 MMA, 9-0 BMMA), who has a standard exclusive negotiating period with Bellator built into his deal before he can seek offers from other promotions. In the past, as was the case with former lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez , Rebney waived the exclusive period and let Alvarez test the market early. He got an offer from the UFC, Bellator attempted to match it and now the entire case is tied up in the legal system with Alvarez’s side saying Bellator’s counter-offer was not a true match
BAD MMA Trending Cloud
UFC • Bellator • Conor Mcgregor • PFL • Jon Jones • Daniel Cormier • Dustin Poirier • Khabib Nurmagomedov • Dana White • Francis Ngannou • Jorge Masvidal • Nate Diaz • Anderson Silva • Max Holloway • WSOF • Michael Chandler • Ronda Rousey • Alex Pereira • Michael Bisping • Amanda Nunes • Alexander Volkanovski • Donald Cerrone • Kamaru Usman • islam makhachev • Tony Ferguson • Henry Cejudo • Jake Paul • Charles Oliveira • Demetrious Johnson • sean o'malley • Jose Aldo • One Championship • Aljamain Sterling • Derrick Lewis • Stipe Miocic • sean strickland • Tyron Woodley • Georges St Pierre • Robert Whittaker • Chael Sonnen
- MMA News (115553)
- The Ultimate Fighter 33: Daniel Cormier vs. Chael Sonnen Episode 8 results, semifinal matchups revealed
- Dana White shares controversial opinion on Derrick Lewis’ 35-second knockout win
- Undefeated MMA fighter shot five times in horrific attack
- Jhonata Diniz vs. Mario Pinto booked for UFC’s return to Rio de Janeiro
- UFC 318 fight card, start time
- Nate Diaz calls for Conor McGregor trilogy: ‘There ain’t nobody else to fight’
- UFC 318 roundtable: Can Dustin Poirier author the most feel-good MMA ending ever?
- Eduarda Moura had 1 request for Dana White in UFC Nashville post-fight meeting
- Video: Daniel Dubois screams in Oleksandr Usyk’s face ahead of intense rematch
- ‘I can’t quit staring’: Pros react to alleged Conor McGregor explicit photo leaks